Monday, 30 January 2012

The Broken Dishes and Broken Sugar Bowl blocks are nice and warm in the Dominican. Unfortunately I couldn't fit in Noeline's suitcase so she took my blocks instead. I understand they had a great time!

Meanwhile back in Canada.....

My honey drove a group of Kamloops speed skaters to Ft. St. James for an outdoor race. Ft. St. James is about 8 hours north west of Kamloops. Luckily the weather wasn't too cold. However, it was a little snowy.
While there Doug had set out a quilt I had made him on a makeshift resting area. Someone came by and asked if it was for sale. He said there was no way he could ever sell one of the quilts I made for him. Is he a keeper or what!

While you are here, don't forget to go to the previous post to enter to win a Bali Pop.

Thursday, 26 January 2012

This Cherry Bali Pop might just be on it's way to YOU! Leave me a comment and on February 3rd I will generate a random number from all comments. The winner will receive this Bali Pop! If you want a second chance, blog about the giveaway linking back to me. Leave a second comment letting me know you have done this. I will ship to wherever in the world you live!

This Bali Pop is one of Hoffman's latest releases.

Here are all the current Pops. I used the Key Lime for my tutorial Bali Popalicious. All of these are available at Katja's or a quilt store near you.

For a consolation prize I have three fat quarters of some of by favourite Batiks. I will draw a second number from all entries and the winner will receive these.

Thursday, 19 January 2012

What an honour to be asked to quilt Geraldine's latest quilt from the book Blooms and Baskets by Emily G Senuta. Geraldines appliqué is far superior to anything I will ever be able to accomplish!

I wish I had a spot big enough to display the entire quilt. The detail is fantastic.

Each year I tally up how many quilts I have quilted on my Longarm. Since I bought my machine in 2000 this was quilt 1751. Geraldine ask me once why her machine quilting didn't look like mine. I told her that I had lots of practice, just like she had lots of practice appliquéing. That is why my appliqué doesn't look like hers. Practice!

Tuesday, 17 January 2012

Yes, winter has finally hit. -17 C with a wind chill of -33 C. It must be time to stay indoors and work on some hexagons.

The block on the left is Katja's Hex-a-thon block #3. The block on the right is all the same pieces as the first, placed a little different. I couldn't help myself. I had to play with the design a little. I'm trying to make at least two blocks a week so that I will have a little bigger quilt. Pop over to Carla's blog and check out her first two hexagons. The fabric is adorable!

Monday, 16 January 2012

This weeks blocks, Birds in the Air and Bouquet, have gone to the beach. Yes, even in B.C. we have beaches worth going to in January.

This beach is at Harrison Lake. Doug and I went to the Harrison Hot Springs Resort for a little mini holiday. We weren't the adventuresome people on the beach. We stayed in the hot springs soaking our weary bodies or sat in the pub watching a little hockey. The perfect Canadian winter holiday.

A couple of the women who have joined me in making the Farmer's Wife blocks have sent me pictures to share.

Ronnie is making two sets of blocks. The first is from scraps and the second is from the Chocolat line from Moda. Way to go Ronnie, looking good!

Linda R. has half her blocks made and is joining in to finish the "harder" blocks. I can hardly wait to see this one finished.

Wednesday, 11 January 2012

Well, I finally caved and decided to join Katja's hex-a-thon. I wasn't sure with the Farmer's Wife Blocks happening if I would have time, but what the heck. I love English Paper Piecing and this will give me something to do in the evenings when I'm to tired to do much else.

This is my offering for weeks 1 and 2. I'm not sure if I'll do two every week, but these were quite easy, and I got a little carried away.

What else have I been up to? Well I just finished quilting this quilt for my friend Claire.

This quilt has a definite African theme to it. The panels were a gift from a friend, several of the blocks are from block exchanges and with Claire's creativity, a beautiful quilt is born.

I just love those funky chickens in the first panel. The swirling water was a lot of fun to quilt in the second.
Some lucky nephew of Claire's is going to receive a wonderful gift to use on his boat!

Monday, 9 January 2012

We have been having a mild winter here in Kamloops and up till yesterday, there wasn't any snow on the ground. I had to travel a ways to find some snow.

This is the view at the Britton Creek Rest Stop near the summit of the Coquihalla Highway about an hour and a half drive south of Kamloops.
I had worn my slip on shoes, so I was concerned about how I was going to get close enough to a tree to get a picture. Luckily for me, snowmobilers frequent the area and had made a path under the tree. Next time I will try to be a little more prepared.

This picture was sent to me by one of the women that is following along. Great job!

Thursday, 5 January 2012

To make this quilt you will need a Bali Pop, or 31 assorted 2 1/2" strips. Approximately one metre of background fabric, and then border fabric as desired.

Cut a strip of background fabric 2 1/2" wide. Lay right sides together with a strip of your bali pop. Using the Easy Angle Ruler cut four half square units as shown above. Then cut four sets of 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" rectangles. Set the rest of the bali pop strip aside for later use. From the background strip cut a 2 1/2" square. The remaining background strip can be used with the next bali strips. Cut the 30 remaining bali pop strips the same way.

Decide on two colours that compliment each other then sew your block together as shown above. Make 30 more blocks, for a total of 31 Churn Dash blocks.

From the partial strips that you set aside above, find three that look good together and sew them together to make a strip set that should be 6 1/2" wide. Cut this strip set into 6 1/2" squares. You should get four per strip set. You need a total of 32 blocks, so you will need eight strip sets. I didn't think to take pictures of this step, so if you have problems, e-mail me. The left over bali pop strips may be used for the binding.

Use the picture to lay out your blocks, paying attention to how the strip set blocks are placed. My inner border was cut 1 1/4" and my outer border was cut 5" for a finished quilt size of 52 1/2" x 64 1/2".

I quilted leaves in the border and the strip set blocks and then quilted in the ditch for the Churn Dash blocks.